1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate in general to biopsy devices, and more particularly to biopsy devices having the capability to store multiple tissue samples, such as in a spaced-apart, sequenced manner, within a portion of the biopsy device.
2. Background
When a suspicious tissue mass is discovered in a patient's breast or in another area through examination, ultrasound, MRI, X-ray imaging or the like, it may be necessary to perform a biopsy procedure to remove one or more samples of that tissue in order to determine whether the mass contains cancerous cells. A biopsy may be performed using an open or percutaneous method. Medical devices for obtaining tissue samples for subsequent sampling and/or testing are known in the biopsy art. For instance, biopsy instruments now marketed under the tradename MAMMOTOME®, including MAMMOTOME® REVOLVE™ are commercially available from Devicor Medical Products for use in obtaining breast biopsy samples.
An open biopsy may be performed by making a large incision in the breast and removing either the entire mass, called an excisional biopsy, or a substantial portion of it, known as an incisional biopsy. An open biopsy is a surgical procedure that may be done as an outpatient procedure in a hospital or a surgical center, and may involve a high cost and a high level of trauma to the patient. Open biopsy may carry relatively higher risk of infection and bleeding than does percutaneous biopsy, and the disfigurement that may result from an open biopsy may make it difficult to read future mammograms. Further, the aesthetic considerations of the patient might make open biopsy even less appealing due to the potential risk of disfigurement. Given that some biopsies show that the suspicious tissue mass is not cancerous, the potential downsides of the open biopsy procedure might render this method inappropriate in some cases.
Percutaneous biopsy may be less invasive than open biopsy. Percutaneous biopsy may be performed using fine needle aspiration (FNA), core needle biopsy, or otherwise. In FNA, a very thin needle may be used to withdraw fluid and cells from the suspicious tissue mass. This method may be low-pain, so low-pain that local anesthetic is not necessarily always used because the application of it may be more painful than the FNA itself. However, in some FNA procedures, only a small number of cells might be obtained through the procedure, rendering it relatively less useful in some situations in analyzing the suspicious tissue and making an assessment of the progression of the cancer less simple if the sample is found to be malignant.
During some core needle biopsy procedures, a small tissue sample may be removed allowing for a pathological assessment of the tissue, including an assessment of the progression of any cancerous cells that are found.
The biopsy instruments marketed under the trade name MAMMOTOME®, including MAMMOTOME® RESOLVE™ are commercially available from Devicor Medical Products generally retrieve multiple core biopsy samples from one insertion into breast tissue with vacuum assistance. In particular, a cutter tube is extended into a probe to cut tissue prolapsed into a side aperture under vacuum assistance, and then the cutter tube is fully retracted between cuts to extract the sample.
With a device having a relatively long cutter travel, the rate of sample taking may be limited not only by the time required to rotate or reposition the probe but also by the time needed to translate the cutter. As an alternative to relatively “long stroke” biopsy devices, a “short stroke” biopsy device is described in the following: U.S. Pat. No. 7,419,472 issued Sep. 2, 2008; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,740,597 issued Jun. 22, 2010, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. The cutter can be cycled through a distance substantially equal to or slightly greater than the distance across the side aperture, reducing the sample time.
The following patent documents disclose various biopsy devices, and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 8,803,687 issued Dec. 27, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,862 issued Aug. 14, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,522 issued May 15, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,055 issued May 8, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,462 issued Sep. 19, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,544 issued Jul. 11, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,230 issued Jun. 20, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,316 issued Jan. 25, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,497 issued Dec. 28, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,469 issued Nov. 9, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,716 issued Oct. 12, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,164 issued Jul. 27, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,333 issued Jul. 7, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,086 issued Jun. 23, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,547 issued Jul. 22, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,822 issued Jun. 18, 1996; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0199753 published Oct. 23, 2003 to Hibner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,822, incorporated by reference above, discloses a tissue sample cassette, including a rotary sample cassette that is belt driven. Other tissue sample storage devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,740,596 issued Jun. 22, 2010; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,867,173 issued Jan. 11, 2011, each of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additionally, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/682,418, entitled “BIOPSY SYSTEM WITH GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE,” filed on Aug. 13, 2012, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a graphical user interface system and method used in conjunction with a biopsy system.
While a variety of biopsy devices have been made and used, and a variety of tissue sample storage devices and techniques have been devised, the above-listed references do not include a biopsy device where rotation of a thumbwheel is selectively linked with rotation of a tissue sample manifold.